10/12/2014

WHY WE ARE LOSING THE "WAR ON TERROR" -- ISIS, the Laws of War, and Combat Lawyers | David Wood

When Maj. Wakefield clears her throat, heads swivel. She too has questions: are the human targets positively identified as enemies? Are they demonstrating hostile intent? Because if not, you can't engage, she reminds them. And if you can engage, should you?

Then there is the issue of proportionality, she reminds them. You're not allowed to use excessive force when lesser force will get the job done. As the U.S. Field Manual on the law of land warfare puts it, "loss of life and damage to property must not be out of proportion to the military advantage to be gained" in any operation.